A Kismet Christmas Plot Summary
A children's author reconnects with her hometown, family, and teenage crush while confronting a family legend that might actually be true.
Starring: Sarah Ramos and Carlo Marks
Shining Moments in A Kismet Christmas
Moonlight in Vermont is my favorite.
The supporting cast in A Kismet Christmas plays an integral part of the story. Gramma Mia (Marilu Henner) proves age doesn't need to bar a person from doing what they love. She's selling the house so she can teach abroad. Gramma Mia has two fun sidekicks, one of whom wants a Kismet cookie to learn if her longtime friend might be her true love. Benny is Sarah's editor, and he provides comic relief while Jazzy is adorable and writes the essay that brings Sarah back home.
How Do You Feel About Sarah Ramos as a Leading Lady?
Sarah Ramos is blah and unimpressive as a Hallmark leading lady. While her character engages in fun and playful banter with Travis, just as you'd expect from two people who've been friends since childhood, they seem more like brother and sister. The chemistry isn't strong enough to make you believe they could ever be anything more.
Sarah has been writing stories since she was a kid, and she admits how awkward she was growing up. Even as an adult, she doesn't come across as an accomplished author, but as a nerdy, bookish person who is always jittery. It's a little disconcerting to watch, especially the odd way she cocks her jaw as she talks.
Regardless of Ramos' lack of star power, Marks fills the gap with an outstanding performance that carries his co-star through the movie.
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Not the Right Kind of Christmas Magic
Many Hallmark fans have asked for more movies featuring Christmas magic, like the good old days when Hallmark produced movies about magical ornaments and stockings and included "real" Santas who made wishes come true.
A Kismet Christmas answers the demand for a little fantasy, but not necessarily in a good way. Kismet cookies that make recipients dream about their true love is just slightly different from Gingerbread Miracle from 2021 where cookies granted wishes. As always, Hallmark writers continue to recycle old plots and hope we'll be okay with it. The twist is that Sarah dreamed of Travis years previously, but when she ran to his house to tell him he was her true love, she interrupted his wedding. She fled the town in shame, no longer believing in the legend of the Kismet cookie made from a recipe that had been found in a secret kitchen compartment decades previously by another family member.
The magic in this movie feels a little different, too. Rather than being whimsical, it's like G-rated witchcraft. Sarah and Gramma Mia are seen by the town as the only family who can produce the magical Kismet cookies, and the house in which they live is spoken of in living terms. It's like the Collins women are two witches living in a possessed house, but instead of a cauldron, they whip up cookies in mixing bowls. Anyone who wants to know who their true love is must sleep with a cookie under their pillow so they can have a special dream, and so Sarah and her grandma are sought out like two psychics to help people see into the future. Kind of creepy, when you think about it.
My Christmas Tree Rating
The main character is a writer, which is painfully redundant. There are hundreds of careers to choose from, but script writers always take the easy path instead of challenging their writing skills to create something more imaginative.
The most ridiculous scene in the movie is when Travis takes Sarah to a cabin he inherited so she can be inspired to finish her novel. He works full-time, spends tons of time with his daughter, volunteers, and hangs out with Sarah every available moment. Do you really think the cabin he takes her to is going to be fully decorated for Christmas when he's rarely there?
Sarah's novel is 80% complete, but we're supposed to believe she was able to finish the remaining 20% in one day with Travis as a constant audience? Maybe it's possible, but it seems a stretch.
When Sarah asks about Jazzy's mom, Travis admits his marriage ended early on. His ex travels with her band doing what she has always wanted to do. Travis is quick to jump to her defense and say that there's no bad guy and that Jazzy knows she has a mom who loves her. Really? Sounds like Jazzy's mom only loves herself. When you rarely see your child because you chose to abandon them to go do your own thing, that is not love--that is being a horrible parent and a bad, self-absorbed person.
The cast is entertaining, some moments are comedic, the element of fantasy is a break from the norm, and the movie is at least family friendly. Overall, A Kismet Christmas is worth watching at least once and earns three out of five Christmas trees.
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